News

Life For African Mothers gift from Welsh Government welcomed

May 23, 2018 at 5:09 PM

Julie Morgan has welcomed a Welsh Government announcement that it is making a donation of £1,500 to the charity Life For African Mothers which is run by a former University Hospital of Wales neonatal intensive care nurse from Cardiff.

The announcement was made as a 'gift' to mark the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19.

Angela Gorman, the chief executive of Life For African Mothers, said: "This is great news. I am delighted with the First Minister's decision to support 'Life for African Mothers'. The charity supports mothers during childbirth and this funding will mean we can send a midwife to hold skills workshops in some of the poorest African countries, such as Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Julie Morgan said: "I have long supported the charity as I know it is a really effective, small Cardiff-based charity which does amazing work. The charity buys and delivers life-saving drugs for women to stop post-partum bleeding – which is preventable with the right medication. The medication is routinely used in Western countries."

The Welsh Government money will fund a Welsh midwife to travel to Africa to train up to 30 local midwives – read the full story here.

More information about Life For African Mothers

Around 180,000 women die every year from eclampsia (seizures). A drug called Magnesium Sulphate will, with 3 -5 doses alleviate this situation. Each dose costs £1. Less than £5 can save the life of a mother and her baby.

Post partum haemorrhage is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in Africa. A drug called Misoprostol is used to stop the bleeding. Each dose costs 15p, three doses are needed to stop the bleeding. It costs 45p to save a woman from bleeding to death.